ORANGE BEACH, Ala. —The third grade at Orange Beach Elementary has kicked off their “Go Green” project.

Each class was asked to decorate a cardboard box with recycled items. The students used their creativity to design their classroom boxes, which were then judged by the janitorial and cafeteria staff. The classes that received first and second place got a special snack, and the winning class got an out of uniform day.

Mrs. Mosley’s fourth graders designed a great recycling box decorated with their old name tags from the beginning of the year and big leaves that were collected from the playground. It was titled “Don’t Monkey Around with Our Planet…REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE.” The fourth graders in Mrs. Mosley’s class wrote paragraphs about the importance of keeping our planet clean by growing green. Some of the entries are quoted below. Mrs. Cardwell’s sixth graders won second place with their recycling bin that was made to look like a school house.

OBES has also started an aluminum can and plastic bottle recycling drive. The cans collected by the third graders will be taken to an aluminum recycling center to be traded in for cash. This cash will then be used to purchase trees that will be planted at the Earth Day Celebration in April. This program has helped make the students of OBES aware of the benefits of recycling as well as eager to do more for our planet in order to keep it clean.